Doctoral Program Resources for Minority Students
The goal of diversity in doctoral education has eluded the US for many decades. Nationally, diversity policies have fostered gradual efforts by professional groups, philanthropists, and educational institutions to include greater numbers of women and minority group students. While this article reviews the difficulties and barriers facing women and minority doctoral candidates, one must add that on balance the Latino, Black, and other minority rates of participation are at or near all-time highs. There are problems, barriers, and obstacles, and there are also meaningful opportunities.
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Racial Minorities and Women
There are some notable contrasts between the research findings for racial minorities and women. Women experience barriers based on gender but may find higher levels of support than minority students. The effects of disparate treatment based on gender may be as harmful to the individual as treatment based on race or national origin. There may be fewer cultural issues such as identity.
Women and Women of Color
The research suggests that both women and women of color experience disparate treatment relative to white males. The women of color have additional burdens both as students and as faculty. For example, women of color might respond to unpaid requirements to assist both female and race-based recruitment and student support.
Barriers and Obstacles
A brief survey of current research on the problem of under-representation of minorities in doctoral level educational attainment reveals signs of progress and points to the remaining difficulties. The barriers are both based in the institutional approaches and in effects of the larger societal social systems.
Minority students have a higher attrition rate than White students. They have much higher rates of greatly extended time for completion and a lower rate of completing on time. The lack of funds stands out as a primary cause. Another frequently cited cause is the sense of isolation and lack of support reported by many women and minority students.
Socialization, Mentors, and the Educational Environment
Many women and minority group students reported discomfort, disappointment, and some high levels of frustration with a perceived pressure to conform to normative models. This pressure seems unwanted and manifests in the vital relationship of mentor and student as well as in the broader context of the student within an educational institution.
One must note as an observation that many schools of thought suggest the greatest value of minority faculty, senior executives, and CEOs are their value as role models that relate to the female or minority communities. Compliance with societal norms is a subjective standard at best, and there is a greater potential to stifle educational attainment among minority doctoral candidates than to promote it.
Minority Doctoral Grants, Scholarships, Financial Assistance
Financial hardship contributed to higher attrition among women of color and minority students more broadly. There are far more students than scholarships, and many students will have to borrow funds. To the extent that students can get grants, stipends, and scholarships, they can benefit from the use of funds that do not add future debt.
There are several types of aid and sources of financial aid. Some aid is based on merit and need. The merit-based awards use high academic achievement as well as demonstrated financial need. Other types of assistance use need as the primary test. Many of the programs aimed at women (the AAUW) and minority candidates emphasize the potential contributions that the student may make as a teaching professional.
To the extent that applicants plan to engage in either full or part-time or periodic stints of college-level instruction then that information may work to the applicant’s advantage. For example, scholarship funds from the CPA association, Carnegie Mellon, and the NAEd Dissertation Fellowship.
International students are often from cultures that meet the requirements for diverse applicants in the US. Some notable scholarships focus on recent immigrants and children of immigrants. For example, the George Soros family foundations scholarships and the Fulbright Foundation support students of color from other nations.
Opening Doctoral Education to Women and Minorities
The research, articles, and reflexive studies suggest many areas for improvement. The three below-described points are but some of the beneficial areas for consideration for opening doors to doctoral education to women and minorities.
(1) Improving mentoring.
Mentoring is a critical phase of the doctoral process, and while the research does not list it as a primary cause of attrition, the relationship is a frequent point of frustration. Women and women of color seem particularly expressive of disappointment in the level of support. Mentoring is a situation in which the teaching profession touches the candidate directly and in a formative stage. Mentoring holds great promise as a source of support even as now it is a source of frequent disappointment.
(2) Focusing on Identity.
Ethnic and gender identity seems to arise in an odd vacuum; while all groups share this trait, the minority and women candidates seem to bear its difficulty. Identity should be an essential asset for EdDs and Ph.Ds. and particularly those that take up teaching. In every field of education, the personality, drive, and ambitions of a teacher can be a source of strength and inspiration. Identity should be encouraged whether or not it easily understood by mentors and educational structures.
(3) Restructuring the employment side.
Many educational institutions, public bodies, and private and firms develop and apply diversity principles to EdD and Ph.D. position-searches. The policy seems to sit on a shelf until the vacancies occur, and then the institution springs into action to reach out. Some studies suggest that institutions can take better advantage of specialized search services and that they can enhance their policies by inclusive recruitment infrastructure. The pipeline, sources, and referrals should be a constant process and not a sporadic process in response to vacancies.
In Their Own Words
Some of the most compelling and vivid examples of efforts to overcome impediments to completing doctoral studies come from the students. Speaking as scholars, Latino persons, and aspiring people of various ages, these testimonial papers add a human dimension to a sometimes vague and abstract problem of under-representation. The critical roles of encouragement, positive mentoring, and supportive learning environments take on the force of life when related by students.